Public Scholarship In Communication Studies

Prometheus brought the gift of enlightenment to humanity and suffered for his benevolence. This collection takes on scholars’ Promethean view of themselves as selfless bringers of light and instead offers a new vision of public scholarship as service to society. Thomas J Billard and Silvio Waisbord curate essays from a wide range of specialties within the study of communication. Aimed at scholars and students alike, the contributors use approaches from critical meditations to case studies to how-to guides as they explore the possibilities of seeing shared knowledge not as a gift to be granted but as an imperative urging readers to address the problems of the world. Throughout the volume, the works show that a pivot to ideas of scholarship as public service is already underway in corners of communication studies across the country. Visionary and provocative, Public Scholarship in Communication Studies proposes a needed reconsideration of knowledge and a roadmap to its integration with community. Contributors: Elaine Almeida, Becca Beets, Thomas J Billard, Danielle K. Brown, Aymar Jean Christian, Stacey L. Connaughton, Paula Gardner, Larry Gross, Amy Jordan, Daniel Kreiss, Rachel Kuo, Susan Mancino, Shannon C. McGregor, Philip M. Napoli, Todd P. Newman, Srividya Ramasubramanian, Chad Raphael, Sue Robinson, Silvio Waisbord, Yidong Wang, and Holley Wilkin

Prometheus brought the gift of enlightenment to humanity and suffered for his benevolence. This collection takes on scholars' Promethean view of themselves as selfless bringers of light and instead offers a new vision of public scholarship as service to society. Thomas J Billard and Silvio Waisbord curate essays from a wide range of specialties within the study of communication. Aimed at scholars and students alike, the contributors use approaches from critical meditations to case studies to how-to guides as they explore the possibilities of seeing shared knowledge not as a gift to be granted but as an imperative urging readers to address the problems of the world. Throughout the volume, the works show that a pivot to ideas of scholarship as public service is already underway in corners of communication studies across the country. Visionary and provocative, Public Scholarship in Communication Studies proposes a needed reconsideration of knowledge and a roadmap to its integration with community. Contributors: Elaine Almeida, Becca Beets, Thomas J Billard, Danielle K. Brown, Aymar Jean Christian, Stacey L. Connaughton, Paula Gardner, Larry Gross, Amy Jordan, Daniel Kreiss, Rachel Kuo, Susan Mancino, Shannon C. McGregor, Philip M. Napoli, Todd P. Newman, Srividya Ramasubramanian, Chad Raphael, Sue Robinson, Silvio Waisbord, Yidong Wang, and Holley Wilkin

Public scholarship - sharing research with audiences outside of academic settings - has become increasingly necessary to counter the rise of misinformation, to fill gaps from cuts to traditional media, and to increase the reach of important scholarship by making it available to the public. Engaging in these efforts often comes with the risk of harassment and threats - especially for women, people of colour, queer communities, and precariously employed workers. Engage in Public Scholarship! provides constructive guidance on how to translate research into inclusive public outreach while ensuring that such efforts are accessible for a range of abilities as well as safer for those involved. In clear and helpful language, Alex Ketchum discusses practices and planning for a great range of educational activities - from in-person and online events, conferences, and lectures, to publishing and working with the media, to social media activity, blogging, and podcasting. Using an intersectional feminist lens, this book serves as a concise approach to the key challenges and benefits of feminist and accessible public scholarship by surveying debates and offering solutions. Examining the needs for long-term preservation and impact, Ketchum discusses issues relating to digital sustainability, maintenance, the concept of "openness," and how to be mindful of exclusionary barriers that impede access. A useful and readable guidebook for scholars, students, and content creators, Engage in Public Scholarship! offers both encouragement and toolkits for reaching audiences and sharing knowledge in practical and more equitable ways.

Contemporary societies demand clear-minded, evidence-based ideas to address complex social issues. Communication scholarship has a rich trove of knowledge and experiences to help address such problems. In this passionately argued manifesto, Silvio Waisbord examines public scholarship in communication studies and its potential for contributing to the common good. He discusses the various ways scholars seek to serve the public as practitioners, experts, advocates, activists and critics, and underscores their significant contribution which has not, to date, been properly supported or recognized. Only by tackling academic institutional politics, he argues, will it be possible to strengthen public scholarship as central to the mission of communication studies. The Communication Manifesto is a roadmap to action and will inspire communication scholars and students to be public citizens, thereby connecting their work and expertise to the causes of solidarity, humanity and social justice.

Advancing Crisis Communication Effectiveness shows how crisis communication plans and efforts for complex and challenging issues benefit when academic perspectives are connected with practitioner experiences. This book brings crisis and public relations scholars together with practicing professionals to integrate academic theories and research with the knowledge and lessons learned on the frontlines of crisis communication and management. This book illustrates how having insights and observations from both leading crisis communication scholars and professionals strengthens crisis management and communication strategies, plans, and coordination. Chapters co-authored by leading scholars and professionals highlight how academic theories and research can inform crisis management and response - and how practitioners can utilize, inform, and strengthen academic theories and research. For each topic area covered, examples and applications are provided that show how integrating public relations scholarship with practice can advance crisis communication effectiveness. This book represents a unique and timely contribution to the field of crisis management and communication. It will be an important resource for public relations and crisis management and communication scholars, educators, professionals, consultants, and graduate students.

Communication is fundamentally a relational phenomenon. Through communication we create relationships that frame how we perceive and relate to the world and each other. Every relationship sets off different social, political, and epistemological implications and consequences, and possesses the potential to fundamentally change the world. This book presents an emergent definition of communication and demonstrates the promise of this definition for enlarging our understanding and experience of what is possible.Communication is defined in terms of vulnerability. Vulnerability assumes that our humanity is bound up with the humanity of others. This book is about possibility and our own potentiality to create just and humane worlds, and it demonstrates how a new vision of communication studies, by expanding our moral and theoretical imagination, can allow us to look anew at our own potentiality and that of the world.

An authoritative survey of different contexts, methodologies, and theories of applied communication The field of Applied Communication Research (ACR) has made substantial progress over the past five decades in studying communication problems, and in making contributions to help solve them. Changes in society, human relationships, climate and the environment, and digital media have presented myriad contexts in which to apply communication theory. The Handbook of Applied Communication Research addresses a wide array of contemporary communication issues, their research implications in various contexts, and the challenges and opportunities for using communication to manage problems. This innovative work brings together the diverse perspectives of a team of notable international scholars from across disciplines. The Handbook of Applied Communication Research includes discussion and analysis spread across two comprehensive volumes. Volume one introduces ACR, explores what is possible in the field, and examines theoretical perspectives, organizational communication, risk and crisis communication, and media, data, design, and technology. The second volume focuses on real-world communication topics such as health and education communication, legal, ethical, and policy issues, and volunteerism, social justice, and communication activism. Each chapter addresses a specific issue or concern, and discusses the choices faced by participants in the communication process. This important contribution to communication research: Explores how various communication contexts are best approached Addresses balancing scientific findings with social and cultural issues Discusses how and to what extent media can mitigate the effects of adverse events Features original findings from ongoing research programs and original communication models and frameworks Presents the best available research and insights on where current research and best practices should move in the future A major addition to the body of knowledge in the field, The Handbook of Applied Communication Research is an invaluable work for advanced undergraduate students, graduate students, and scholars.

This book proposes a new paradigm of public scholarship for our time, one that shifts from the notion of the public intellectual to the model of the engaged scholar.The editors’ premise is that the work of public scholarship should be driven by a commitment to supporting a diverse democracy and promoting equity and social justice. The contributors to this volume present models that eschew the top-down framing of policy to advocate for practice that drives bottom-up change by arming the widest range of stakeholders -- especially members of marginalized communities -- with relevant research.They demonstrate how public scholarship in higher education can increase its impact on practice and policy and compellingly argue that public scholarship should be recognized as normative practice for all scholars and indeed integrated into the curriculum of graduate courses.The chapters describe multiple types of public scholarship and different strategies that move beyond informing policymakers, faculty, and administrators to engage publics such as students and parents, media, the general public, and particularly groups that may have had little or no access to research. Examples include partnering with a community agency to design a research project and disseminate results; writing for practitioner or policy venues and magazines outside the traditional academic journals; serving on boards for national groups that impact decisions related to your area of research; and the use of social media.Whether scholar, director of graduate education, or graduate student of higher education, this book opens up a new vision of how research can inform practice that promotes the public good.